The Los Angeles Lakers were able to defeat the Dallas Mavericks on the second half of a back-to-back. In the win, big men for the Lakers shined.
After a high-scoring win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home to face Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
As one of the most exciting young players in the NBA, this had a big game feel on a Sunday evening in the Staples Center. While Luka is having a great season, he did not have a great night. Overall, Luka finished with 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the floor.
Just before halftime, Doncic took a hard fall on his back and then had his head hit off the ground. This can certainly be one of the reasons why Doncic had a poor game, as he didn’t look like himself on the floor.
While Doncic struggled, the Lakers did look very strong in this one. On the interior is where the Lakers really imposed their will on the Mavericks frontcourt. In the starting lineup, JaVale McGee totaled 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks in just 16 minutes of play.
Coming off the bench, Dwight Howard didn’t miss a beat, as he totaled 15 points in 19 minutes of play. The combination of the two centers for the Lakers did extremely well in this game, as they really set the tone on the inside for the Lakers.
While the combination of centers did well, so did Anthony Davis. In the win, Davis finished with a team-high of 23 points on a very efficient 8-for-12 shooting from the floor.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Lakers’ frontcourt really bothered the Mavericks’ front court, as Kristaps Porzingis and Dwight Powell combined for 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field.
The strong interior play of the Lakers really helped them get the win in this one, as they got easy looks on the offensive end, and also made things difficult for the Mavericks when they were on offense.
With two straight wins, the Lakers are off until the New Year, as they will be facing the Phoenix Suns on January 1st.